In this season of fasting, prayer and seeking the Lord, I took a deeper look at this story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman by the well. So on the first cell group meeting of the year, I shared it with the group.
HAVE A DRINK!
“Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”
John 4:1-6 NKJV
>> Jesus could have gone straight to Galilee but He purposedly went through Samaria because He knew one person out there needed a touch from Him. How many of us are glad that God came for us and that He initiated the first move towards us?
“A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.””
John 4:7-10 NKJV
>> #pickup line.. What a way to start a conversation! How would you feel if a stranger comes to you asking for a drink? When God is estranged from us, we’d be reluctant to follow Him on the first asking. But when we’ve developed that deeper relationship with Him, we’d desire to do His will.
[“Jesus was on historic ground; this was the very well where Jacob had watered the flocks of his family. It was also controversial ground. There had been centuries of hatred and misunderstanding between the Samaritans and the Jewish people. Jesus realized the true openness of these precious people, unlike His disciples, who were totally oblivious to His Father’s love for the Samaritans because of their ethnocentricity and hatred.”]
– Excerpt From: Nation, Every. “Knowing God – 2017 Prayer & Fasting Guide – January 9-13.”
My prayer for all of us in 2017…
1. That we would not hesitate to accept GOD’s INVITATION – to fellowship with Him, to obey Him, to serve Him
“A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.””
John 4:7 NKJV
– The Samaritan woman didn’t feel worthy of Jesus’ attention, rejected, shameful
– But Jesus initiated the relationship and looked beyond her brokenness, her past and anything that may come in between them.
2. That our PAST VICTORIES would not withhold us from coming to God.
“Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” (Eh ‘di, wow!)
John 4:10-12 NKJV
#breakthroughs last year
3. That we would have a greater desire for MORE OF GOD in our lives.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.””
John 4:13-15 NKJV
4. That we would desire GOD’s REVELATIONS…of what?
– Our real condition (how God sees our present condition and what we’ve done)
“The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.””
John 4:17-18 NKJV
>> Sometimes we can be blinded to the truth, to the gravity of our sin, to the real condition of our hearts. Only God knows what’s really going on. He can shed light to our situation and illuminate our understanding.
– Direction
“The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.””
John 4:19-24 NKJV
>> You thought you had it going right all this time (how we perceive things with out natural eyes)… but there’s better way of doing it and God wants us to be guided into that.
– About God Himself
“The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He. ””
John 4:25-26 NKJV
#knowing God firsthand
“Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.””
John 4:42 NKJV
5. Like Jesus, we would not seek fleshly, temporal things but those of ETERNAL VALUE.
“And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”
John 4:27, 31-35 NKJV
>> Jesus and the disciples are looking at the same direction (the Samaritan woman) but are seeing things differently.
Illustrations: (1) presented a high-paying job at the cost of your relationship with God and family
(2) opposite: starting low or no income to do what God has called you to do (SOT, job in another industry, go full time, start a business from scratch)
6. That we don’t stop at being blessed, but become a BLESSER.
“Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.””
John 4:16 NKJV
>> Jesus didn’t want to satisfy just the needs of the woman, He’d eant to bring about transformation to others, too, and share that experience of the living water.
“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”
>> Don’t despise your testimony. Because of your words, people may also believe in Jesus themselves.
And many more believed because of His own word.”
John 4:39, 41 NKJV
– But don’t be satisfied about secondhand revelation. Hear it from Jesus Himself! Wouldn’t it be more precious for people to have their own personal encounters with Christ Himself?
>>> Not just needing drink and be satisfied by it, but becoming a drink that refreshes others, too.
#sharing life testimony
#overflow of transforming power into the world around us
SUMMARY:
1. We would not hesitate to accept GOD’s INVITATION – to fellowship with Him, to obey Him, to serve Him.
2. That our PAST VICTORIES would not withhold us from coming to God.
3. That we would have a greater desire for MORE OF GOD in our lives.
4. That we would desire GOD’s REVELATIONS:
– About our real condition
– About our direction
– About God Himself
5. Like Jesus, we would not seek fleshly, temporal things but those of ETERNAL VALUE.
6. That we don’t stop at being blessed, but become a BLESSER.
Then the last point…
7. That we would GIVE to Jesus what He asked for. (Offering message)
Full version of offering message shared in the Filipino service below:
“A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.””
John 4:7, 9-10 NKJV
In this story, after long hours of ministry, Jesus left Judea and went His way to Galilee through Samaria. He could have gone straight to Galilee but He knew that somewhere out there, someone needed an encounter with Him. And in this case, it was a woman from Samaria.
You got to understand that in those days, there was a lot of hatred and misunderstanding between Samaritans and Jews that they don’t talk to each other. But here was Jesus, initiating the conversation, reaching out to the unreached, to people different from Him.
How many of us are glad that Jesus initiated that love relationship with us?
And so He asked, “Give Me a drink.” What a way to start a conversation! What kind of pickup line was that? Imagine a stranger coming to you saying, “Give me a drink.” How would you react?
The woman from Samaria was puzzled! But then, Jesus says, if you knew who it is who asks you for a drink, He would have given you living water.
Simple principle here,
“When we KNOW God and our inheritance in Him and ASK for more of it, we can DRAW from the living water.”
You can draw from the living water if you know Jesus. “You have access to the living water!”
Imagine that living water flowing with revelation, bringing about salvation, provision, healing, blessing, that newness of life…
How is that living water likened to?
It’s like a mighty waterfall. It’s like a river that is not stagnant, it flows. There’s movement. There’s life, there’s a sound. It’s vibrant. It’s fresh. It doesn’t stink.
How many of us would like to tap into that living water?
But guess what,
In God, we do not have a water supply problem. We have a usage problem.
We know God’s grace abounds. We know His supply is never running out. But sometimes in the way we approach God, we limit ourselves and we limit what God can do to and through us.
[illustrate]
#hand with small bill from pocket (stingy)
#mug or water bottle (just enough for me)
#bigger container to make room for others to be blessed, too
OR [like water spring]
– It overflows so that other people, even those you don’t know, may be blessed
– Influence that goes beyond your territory.
Friends, this year, let’s make it our resolution not to limit God in our giving. He wants us to do great and mighty exploits. There’s no supply problem but a usage problem.
Let’s use whatever God has given us to serve His purposes here on earth.
Let’s tap into the living water that only Jesus can give. It will not run dry!
Are you ready to give Jesus your best tonight?
